LeBron James launches tirade against Charles Barkley

FORMER SIXERS player Charles Barkley has been pretty vocal about his opinions, and this time his target was on LeBron James

Last Thursday during a segment on TNT’s Inside the NBA, Barkley called the Cleveland Cavaliers superstar “whiny” for publicly demanding his team sign better players.

“Inappropriate. Whiny. All of the above,” Barkley said, noting the team already has the highest payroll in the league and acquired J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, and Kyle Korver at James' request.

“He’s the best player in the world. Does he want all of the good players?” Barkley continued. “He doesn't want to compete? He is an amazing player. They’re the defending champs.”

James didn't take to kindly to the former baller's comments, and launched a post game rant against him, stating that Barkley is a "hater".

"I'm not going to let him disrespect my legacy like that," James told ESPN. "I'm not the one who threw somebody through a window. I never spit on a kid. I never had unpaid debt in Las Vegas. I never said, 'I'm not a role model.' I never showed up to All-Star Weekend on Sunday because I was in Vegas all weekend partying."

"All I've done for my entire career is represent the NBA the right way. Fourteen years, never got in trouble. Respected the game. Print that."

This isn't the first time Barkley has criticised James. In summer 2016, he told Bill Simmons on his short-lived HBO show Any Given Wednesday that he would “never” rank James among his top 5 all-time NBA players. Barkley also called James’ decision to jump to the Miami Heat in 2010 a “punk move.”

Following the Cavaliers player's shade, Barkley has laughed his comments off, saying "I stick by what I said, I'm not going to make this personal ... he was all whiny last week. I'm good and I'm straightforward, I'm never going to get personal on an NBA player." "he said on the Waddle & Silvy show on ESPN Radio on Tuesday (Jan 31)